Shingle and method of making the same



April 14, 1942. G; E, SWENSON 2,279,382

SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Julie 20, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l fllll- George E. Swezwon [Ara/V April 14, 1942. G. E SWENSON 2,279,382

SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 20, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG- -4 8 6 inventor] GeOIge Swenson Patented Apr. 14, 1942 SHINGLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME George E. Swenson, Hastings on Hudson, N. Y., assignor to The Celotex Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a.corporation of Delaware Application June 20, 1938, Serial No. 214,817

Claims.

This invention relates to shingles and has for its object to provide a shingle of novel characteristics, as well as a method of making such shingle, which will be more efiicient than those heretofore proposed. With these and other objects in view the invention resides in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts constituting the shingle, as well as in the novel steps and combinations of steps constituting the method of manufacture, all as will be disclosed more fully hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views- Fig. 1 is an end elevational View of a block from which a plurality of shingles can be obtained;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a roof or side of a building to which a plurality of these shingle has been applied; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a roof formed of these shingles, said view taken as on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a transverse'sectional view of a shingle, in foreshortened effect, said View taken as on the line i-4 of Fig. 2 andlooking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinalsectional View taken as on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a complete shingle.

This invention contemplates the formation of a shingle of appreciable width with respect to the length of the shingle, therefore difiering materially from the heretofore proposed small shingle units and more closely approximating a structure comparable with sheets of wallboard, in that the shingle of this invention may have a width of the order of eight feet wherefore considerable time can be saved in the covering of a surface with such shingles. The length of this shingle, from head to butt edge, may be varied but is of the order of from sixteen to twenty-four inches.

The individual shingle can be readily understood from the drawings, as having the head edge 2, the butt edge 3, and the two opposite side edges 4 and 5, the head edge being considerably less in thickness than the butt edge as is usual in shingle practice, but the butt edge is-provided longitudinally thereof with a rabbet or recess generally identified by the numeral 6 one face of which is substantially parallel to the upper surface 1 of the shingle, and whose other surface 8 is formed at an acute angle to the surface 6 to provide the pocket 9. The head edge is formed with the surface In creating an acute angle with the top surface 1 of the shingle and this acute angularity is of the same order as that of the pocket 9 wherefore, whensimilarly formed shingles are laid, the surface ll] of one shingle may contact the surface 8 of the next adjacent shingle and thereby create an interlocking effect of the head edge with the rabbet of the butt edge. The under surface I l of the shingle is not parallel with the up er surface 1 thereby resulting in the difference in thickness of the head and butt edge portions.

A kerf i5 is cut in each side edge portion of the shingle, said kerf formed parallel to the upper surface 1 and extending completely from the head edge to the butt edge. This kerf is to receive therein a relatively narrow thin strip I6 of some non-corrodible metal or material, such as" copper or zinc, which serves as a locking strip for the adjacent side edges of two abutting shingles, said strip being somewhat flexible but having suficient inherent rigidity to overcome to a large extent the tendency of the edge portion-of a shingle to curl or warp out of the plane of the corresponding abutting edge portion of the next adjacent shingle, and therefore it will be seen that these locking strips secure the shingles together and keep them applied flatwise on the roof or side of the building. Each locking strip can be of any suitable length but it is preferred that it completely seal against weather the joint between two adjacent shingles as shown at H in Fig. 5 and therefore to this end it is preferred that the strip be of such length that there will be portions of the strip extending beyond the limits of the kerf. In other words, there will be an end portion of the strip 18 which may be folded down and under the butt edge of the shingle, as well as another end portion l9 which may be folded up and over the upper surface 1 of the head edge, see Fig. 3. Obviously however, as in the case of shingles of less thickness, the locking strip may terminate near to or just short of the butt edge so that this end portion of the strip will be completely embedded in two adjacent abutting shingles.

In the manufacture of this shingle it is preferred that a block of stock 25 having parallelly formed faces, be sawed diagonally as along the dotted line 26 in Fig. 1 to separate said block into two similar wedge-like shingle blanks 27 and 28, then each shingle blank further sawed along the amazes remainingdottedlinesshowninsaidl igltoprovide the surface It at the head edge and the rabbet at the'buttedge as shown in Fig. 4. It is, of course, to be understood that the sequence of operations in forming the individual shingle blanks as just described, may be reversed so that the rabbeied butt end and complementing head endmaybeflrstformedandthenthe'blockmay be subsequently sawed along the dotted diagonal line I to separate the block into the individual the pile of stacked blanks'will be held in a t g t and even pile and then this pile of blanks is immersed for a period of approximately 15 minutes in a bath of molten bituminous material,

preferably a pressure pitch of 110 to 120 F.

melting point. Due to the fact that in the stack of blanks piled as stated, substantially only the edge portions of the blanks are exposed, the molten asphalt will penetrate into the pile of stacked blanks from theedges only and will saturate the blanks inwardly from the outermost edges for a distance of from 3 to 5 inches. Due

to the fact that fiber insulation board, such as is used in making the shingle blanks, is felted from a water suspension,'according to the general procedure of paper making, it results that the fibers in such boards lie generally in planes parallel to the broad surfaces of such boards and that, therefore, at the cut edges of the blanks, due to this positioning of the fibers thereof, there is a distinct tendency for the molten asphalt to enter into the,edge of the board along and between the fibers thereof and thus the structure of the board is favorable for the penetration of the asphalt inwardly from the cut edges of the blanks. This saturation inwardly from the edges of the pile has been obtained, the stack is removed and as a second operation the individual shingle blanks are then immersed in a bath of molten asphalt or other suitable bituminous material, to saturate the remaining faces to the extent of about A; to V4," inwardly from the exterior surface. For this second step of the? treatment of the shingle blanks, there may be used 110 to 120 F. melting point pressure pitch, or other bituminous compositions selected to provide consistency characteristics generally comparable to those of said pressure pitch. Usingthe pressure pitch above mentioned, a period of immersion of about 3 to 5 minutes will provide the desired degree of saturation.

Thus itwill be understood that this impregnation is decidedly more than a mere coating or painting layer heretofore proposed in that the nature of the basic material being fibrous, and

asphaltic substancewillpositively penetrate,soak into, and thus impregnatetheentiremrfacearea oftheshingletoadepthfromthemrfaceofapproximately to one-quarter inch. Since the thicknessoftheshingieattheheadedgeisofthe order'of one-half inch, itwillbeimderstoodthat therewill besubstantiallytotal saturationorimpr mtion adjacent theheadedgeforadistance ofthreetofiveinchesfromsaidedge. Inl'iga4 and 5 this imtion is indicated by stippiing, anditwillbeseenthatthetotalsamrationintbe head edge region extends for said distance to the point. Insimilarmannerthebuttedgeregion of the shingle is substantially totally or completely saturated to approximately thepoint 8|. which likewise'is three to five inches from the buttedge. inthiscompletesaturaflon inwardlyfromthesideedgesisthefibrousnature oftheshingleblanhth'esaturaflon faster lengthwise of the felting plane of-fibers than cross-wise thereof, whereby the penetration makes the shingle considerably stiffer than if it is faster inwardly ofthe shingle blank from the cut edges thereof than from the upper and lower surfaces such as I and II. Thekerf ll maybe formed prior to immersion or t thereto.

By such treatment in the asphalflc bath there will result an unsaturated, unimpregnated core indicated 'by the numeral 3| extending from the saturation limits 2! and II in one direction of the shingle, and being that portion of the shingle intermediate the saturated one-quarter inch surface areas in the thickness of the shingle, and this unimpregnated core serves admirably as insulation against the n of heator cold.-

After the impregnation above recited, the blanks are given a coating of asphalt on the top surfaces, which coating may be of 120 F. melting point blown asphalt or equivalent bituminous substance having admixed therewith about 15 to 20% of a filler such as slate dust or finely divided mica, and then there is applied to this coating (while it is still soft) granular surfacing material indicated at 32 which may be finely crushed rock or the like, and such as ordinarily applied to the commonly known asphalt shingles, this granular surfacing material preferably stopping as at the point 33 which is spaced from the head edge 2 a distance equal to the overlap of the butt edge portion of the next adjacent laid shingle. The under surface ll of the shingle will preferably have aluminum powder applied thereto which, on the one hand, tends to protect somewhat the asphalt from deterioration and, on the other hand, acts somewhat as a bright metallic heat reflective surface or alternatively this surface may be talced or may have finely divided mica or the like applied thereto.

The asphalt saturation in the surface areas were not so saturated. The total saturation at .the front (butt) and rear (head) edges additionally stiffens the shingle and particularly on the time of immersion being as above stated, the

ing which might occur under the action of the sun when the shingles particularly are installed on a roof. The surface area saturation tends to prevent cuppin or curling of the main body portion of the shingle due to unequal evaporation or absorption of moisture which would occur particularly on the lower surface area if it did not have this surface saturation and the upper surface area of the shingle is additionally protected, by the coating of asphalt, from directs to the elements.

In app the shingles, those of the lowermost course are laid first as usual with nails such as 35 driven through the head edge region into the rafters 36 or studding of the building. Then the butt edges of the shingles in the next above course are applied to the head edges of the shingles of the first laid course so as to bring about the interlock of said head edges within the rabbets of the said butt edges, after which that course of shingles is secured likewise by nailing to the rafters or studding of the building. The interlocking strip I6 is applied as the shingles are laid, and preferably the side Joints of the shingles are staggered in the adjacent courses in the usual manner to provide the broken joint efiect shown in Fig. 2.

In applying the shingle as above described, it is advisable that there be applied in the kerfs I and even between the adjacent side edges 4 and 5 of the adjoining shingles a plastic non-hardening caulking compound, various forms of which are readily obtainable on the market. In addition to applying the amount of caulking compound at the'keri's l5 and between adjacent edges of the adjoining shingles, it is advisable to apply at least a small amount of such non-hardening caulking compound in the pocket 9 so that when the butt end of a subsequently applied shingle is brought into proper applied relation to the head end of a previously applied shingle, the plastic material so applied in the pocket 9 will serve to thoroughly seal the joint and prevent any infiltration of wind and moisture.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts constituting the shingle, as well as vary the steps of the method of forming and treating the same, without departing from the spirit of this invention and therefore it is desired not to be limited to the exact foregoing disclosure except as may be demanded by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A building covering member comprising fibrous insulating material saturated with bituminous substance in its opposite surface areas,

such saturation being total at the overlapping edge regions whereby the overlapping edge regions are reenforced, the core of the member intermediate the overlapping edge regions being unsaturated forming an insulated building covering member, the overlapping edges being complementally formed for interlocking and wedging engagement.

2. In combination a fibrous shingle; bituminous substance impregnating said shingle in its opposite surface areas, the impregnation being total at the edge regions of the shingle whereby the ed e regions are reenforced, the core of the shingle intermediate the edge regions being unimpregnated forming an insulated shingle; a kerf in each side edge of the shingle, said kerf reenforced by the impregnation and extending extending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the shingle; and a locking strip in one of said kerfs adapted to coengage the kerf of a similarly formed adjacent shingle, said strip of a length to completely fill said kerf and to extend beyond and foldable over the top edge of the shingle.

3. In combination a fibrous shingle having its top and bottom edges complementally formed for interlocking engagement respectively 'with the bottom and top edges of similarly formed adjacent shingles; bituminous substance impregnating said shingle in its opposite surface areas, the impregnation being total at the edge regions of the shingle whereby the edge regions are reenforced, the core of the shingle intermediate the edge regions being unimpregnated forming an insulating shingle; a kerf in each side edge of the shingle, said kerf reenforced by the asphalt saturation and extending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the shingle; and a locking strip in one ofsaid kerfs adapted to coengage the kerf of a similarly formed adjacent shingle, said strip of a length to completely fill said kerf and to extend beyond and foldable over the top edge of the shingle.

4. In combination a fibrous shingle; bituminous substance impregnating said shingle in its opposite surface areas, the impregnation being total at the edge regions of the shingle whereby the edge regions are reenforced, the core of the shingle intermediate the edge regions being unimpregnated forming an insulated shingle; a kerf in each side of the shingle, said kerf extending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the shingle; and a locking strip in one of said kerfs adapted to coengage the kerf of a similarly formed adjacent shingle, said strip completely filling said kerf and extending beyond the top and bottom edges of the shingle to be foldable thereover.

5. The method of treating and reinforcing a fibrous building covering member which comprises the immersion of thinned complementally formed edge portions thereof in an asphalt saturating bath to substantially completely saturate said thinned edge portions and as a step in the method, distinct and separate from the immersion and substantially complete saturation of a thin edge portion thereof the immersion of the entire building covering member in a bath of an asphaltic saturant for a time suflicient to impregnate only the outer surface portions thereof at and adjacent the faces of said member, the said building covering member removed from the bath upon impregnation of the outer surface portions thereof with the saturant whereby the inner core portion of said fibrous building covering member is not saturated.

' GEORGE E. SWENSON. 

